October 23: Freeze

Down to 32 degrees on the 22nd. I opened up the hives to check the syrup situation. Both feeders were empty. I removed the feeders and put the inner cover back on (flat side up).

Below normal temperatures. Rainy and cold yesterday.

October 20: Low Temperature

Down to 37 degrees last night. In the mid-50s the rest of the week. The syrup was probably a little too late.

October 19: Preparing for Winter

Frost advisory last night but only got down to 43 degrees. I checked activity today (sunny and 55), and the bees are quite busy--some bees flying in with pollen which is good to see. I removed the sticky poster board, and the number of varroa mites has thankfully decreased. The entrance reducer hole should be facing up, as I have confirmed in my books. Top entrance holes are still open.

I've been doing some reading about winter preparations. I've got some work to do. I want to make sure that when I do my last big teardown of the hives for inspection that I know exactly what I need to do, so I don't have to open them up again.

Put top feeders on and fed each hive one gallon of 2:1 syrup with Honey-B-Healthy.

September 28: Inspection

Not much progress has been made in the honey supers since the last inspection a month ago. It's getting chillier at night, so I added the entrance reducers. I checked the sticky boards and was dismayed to discover that both hives are heavily infested with varroa mites. I sprinkled with powdered sugar to stimulate grooming behavior and will check again in a few days. Otherwise, the bees look pretty healthy.